Snow is back.

 The robin came

 and the thrush feasted on  red berries.

and the black beaked blackbird waited patiently.

The snow was settling so quickly that two lots of food got covered up before they could stock up on meal worms and suet pellets.

The starlings were waiting to raid the window feeders.

There is one thing missing this year:

all we have is a yawning gap!

I miss it and so do the birds.

Weaving

It started like this

and finished like this

Now it needs a gentle wash and some fabric to back it.

It's a bit chilly.

The weather has turned cold and there has been flurries of snow though nothing of note really but this was Wednesday; it did not last long.

However we can say we have had some unlike last year.

It has been an eventful month so far. My mum had a gas leak and thanks to kind neighbours that is being sorted out, my sister on Skye has had terrible weather and high winds and we have had a leak in our cellar which is probably caused by the rain. It is a mere seep but I seem to have become obsessed with it. A very nice man came and replaced the drain gulley but I have spent days running up and down the cellar steps to see if it is ok.

I have begun a new weaving and I am very pleased with how it looks so far.  I am using these yarns for the weft and a rather nice multicoloured one for the warp.

and I will post pictures when I have done a bit more.

 I had lots of sewing/knitting/craft related gifts this Christmas so I am going to be busy. I have not got a big project in mind yet.  The sewing machine is still asleep from her Christmas break so I am concentrating on weaving and knitting. My snowman is almost finished and just needs a scarf. I finally plucked up the courage to try the circular needles and so the band for my hat is progressing nicely. It will be double pointed needles next or crochet!

Tia is being lazy as usual.

I have started the reading project I mentioned and my first book is White Teeth by Zadie Smith. So far I am enjoying it. I have not chosen th esecond one for this month yet.

New Year

We are nearly a week into this new year already. The weather has been mixed and the snow that appeared on Boxing day night had just about gone by New Year's Eve.

Tia ventured forth and did not reckon much of it. She decided she was better off in a warm kitchen.
Yesterday I took down all the Christmas decorations. They take me several days to put up and then it's a bit hectic getting them all down in one go before the 6th. I cheat though and keep the snowman out until Spring.

I have lots of projects in the offing for this year. I have plenty of yarn to knit up or weave. Some I bought at the Knitting and Stitching show back in November and then I went to the betwixt event at Texere on 27th December. I chose patterns and yarn to make small things so they will get finished. The weaving on the loom has been there for months and did not grow very quickly so I am taking that off and going back to chunkier yarn with a fancy one thrown in.

After reading Terri's blog I have decided to have a go at the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. You choose books from different categories and I thought that this would get me away from the enevitable detective books I read. Though saying that  I could use detective stories for many of the categories I will try hard not too. It is 24 books in all so roughly two a  month. You can link it in to Good reads but I am gopin gto do it informally in a nice notebook  and maybe keep track of it all on here. I am looking forward to getting started.

This maybe the year I get to grips with crochet but on the other hand it probably wont be. pathetic I know. My excuse there are only 24 hours in a day and plenty to keep me busy.

a little chap come to say
Happy New Year